Image by Getty Images

(JTA) — A conservative Jewish columnist speaking at CPAC, an influential annual conference for conservatives, required protection after comments criticizing Republican Party “hypocrites” for ignoring sexual misconduct by the president of the United States.

Mona Charen, a senior fellow for the Ethics & Public Policy Center, spoke on Saturday on a panel called “#UsToo: Left out by the Left.”

She called out those in attendance for ignoring Donald Trump’s bragging about his sexual conquests, though she did not use his name, according to reports.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“I’m disappointed in people on our side for being hypocrites about sexual harassers and abusers of women who are in our party, sitting in the White House, who brag about their extramarital affairs, who brag about mistreating women, and because he happens to have an ‘R’ by his name, we look the other way, we don’t complain,” Charen said.

Her statement came just before an annual straw poll of attendees found a 93 percent approval rating for Trump.

She also criticized the party for its support of Roy Moore. “The Republican Party endorsed Roy Moore for the Senate in the state of Alabama, even though he was a credibly accused child molester. You cannot claim that you stand for women and put up with that,” she said.

Charen, whose columns are often pro-Israel, also criticized CPAC for inviting as a speaker far-right French politician Marion Marechal-Le Pen,  granddaughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen and niece of National Front leader Marine Le Pen. “The only reason she was here is she’s named Le Pen, and the Le Pen name is a disgrace. Her grandfather is a racist and Nazi. She claims she stands for him,” Charen said. “The fact that CPAC invited her is a disgrace,” she added as the crowd booed her.

She reportedly was escorted out of the conference center by three security guards for her own protection.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount